Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates, by Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger

7.99 USD

This is the little-known story of how a newly indepen­dent nation was
challenged by four Muslim powers and what happened when America’s third
president decided to stand up to intimidation.

When Thomas
Jefferson became president in 1801, America faced a crisis. The new
nation was deeply in debt and needed its economy to grow quickly, but
its merchant ships were under attack. Pirates from North Africa’s
Barbary coast routinely captured American sailors and held them as
slaves, demanding ransom and tribute payments far beyond what the new
coun­try could afford.

Over the previous fifteen years, as a
diplomat and then as secretary of state, Jefferson had tried to work
with the Barbary states (Tripoli, Tunis, Algiers, and Morocco).
Unfortunately, he found it impossible to negotiate with people who
believed their religion jus­tified the plunder and enslavement of
non-Muslims. These rogue states would show no mercy—at least not while
easy money could be made by extorting the Western powers. So President
Jefferson decided to move beyond diplomacy. He sent the U.S. Navy’s new
warships and a detachment of Marines to blockade Tripoli—launching the
Barbary Wars and beginning America’s journey toward future superpower
status.